Persona for opaque travel item selection

ABSTRACT

A network-based service may be provided for facilitating queries for a number of items, such as travel services. A user may submit a query including criteria for determining relevant items. The network-based service may be configured to generate opaque search results in response to queries, revealing sufficient detail to allow the user to confirm the relevance of the travel item, but insufficient detail to disclose the identity of the supplier. Based on the submitted query or other information, the network-based service may associate a persona with the user, such as the persona of a business or leisure traveler. The network-based service may use the persona to determine a travel item or items best suited to the user, by identifying the travel item attributes that correlate positively with preferences of the persona. The network-based service may then generate an opaque search result that reveals travel item attributes desired by the persona.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/576,087, entitled PERSONA FOR OPAQUE TRAVEL ITEM SELECTION, and filedDec. 18, 2014, the entirety of which is incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND

Computing devices and computing networks are frequently employed byusers to obtain information and to make purchases. For example, a usermay search for, review, and share information regarding items ofinterest from a network-based information service using his or herpersonal computing device. In another example, a user may purchase anitem of interest from a network-based retailer using his or her personalcomputing device. Furthermore, network-based services may enable a userto perform these tasks in the comfort of their home or office and attheir own pace and convenience.

In some instances, network-based services may provide informationregarding a variety of items offered from a variety of sources. Forexample, a network-based travel service may offer flights,accommodations (e.g., hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, resorts,etc.), ground transportation (car rentals, taxis, town cars, trains,shuttles, etc.), or other travel items from a variety of airlines,accommodation providers, rental companies, etc. Further, inventory ofeach item may be highly volatile, such that the availability of anygiven travel item (e.g., a specific flight or hotel room) may be alteredwithin a very short time period. In addition, multiple items may beavailable that meet a user's criteria (e.g., multiple flights or flightcombinations to a given destination, multiple hotel rooms within a givencity, etc.).

Moreover, in some instances, a network-based travel service may respondto a travel item query by providing opaque search listings. The serviceprovides opaque listings when it withholds the identity of a travel itemsupplier (or information expected to reveal the identity of the travelitem supplier), and then reveals the supplier's identity only after theuser purchases the travel item corresponding to the opaque listing.Common examples of opaque listings for travel items include “secret”hotels and airfares. A network-based travel service may disclose, forexample, only that the offered travel item is a four-star hotel near amajor airport, or is an economy-class airfare to a major city, withoutproviding the name of the hotel or airline. The service may also refrainfrom providing specific details, such as the hotel address or the flightdeparture time, that would allow the user to identify the supplierindirectly. The use of opaque search results may allow suppliers to sellexcess travel item inventory while minimizing impact on traditionalsales. However, due to the opacity, the purchaser of an opaque travelitem may not know in advance whether the item will satisfy their travelrequirements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages will becomemore readily appreciated as the same become better understood byreference to the following detailed description, when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an illustrative networkenvironment in which a travel service may operate to deliver opaquesearch results based on a travel item query and a user persona;

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C are illustrative block diagrams depictinggeneration of an opaque search result based on a travel item query and auser persona, as performed by the travel service of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A and 3B depict illustrative user interfaces that may be used tofacilitate submission of a travel item query to, and delivery of anopaque search result from, the travel service of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram depicting an illustrative routine forassociating a user persona with a travel item query and generatingopaque search results based on the query and the persona.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally described, aspects of the present disclosure are directed tomanaging queries for travel items offered or provided via network-basedtravel services. More specifically, aspects of the present disclosurerelate to facilitating the generation of opaque search results based ona travel item query and a user persona. Generally described, a userpersona may reflect a user's intent when purchasing a travel item.Examples of personas include, but are not limited to, businesstravelers, leisure travelers, family vacationers, economy travelers,etc. Illustratively, a network-based travel service may offer one ormore travel items for acquisition, purchase, or booking. Travel itemsmay include items such as flights, hotels or other accommodations,ground transport, activities, etc. The network-based travel serviceprovides opaque search results based on these travel items, disclosingonly limited information about the travel items in order to preserve theanonymity of the supplier. A user of the network-based travel servicemay submit a search query for a travel item. The search query mayinclude criteria for selecting relevant travel items (e.g., a relevantflight, hotel, rental car, etc.). Thereafter, the service may returnavailable and relevant travel items after making search results opaqueby removing information that would permit the user to identify thesupplier.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the servicemay determine which travel items are relevant based at least in part ona persona associated with the user. For example, a user may explicitlyindicate in a travel item query that the user is traveling on business.The travel service may, based on this indication, determine that themost relevant search results are accommodations providing amenitiessuitable for business travelers, such as a business center or fitnesscenter. Thereafter, the travel service may return a list of opaqueresults that are relevant to the user persona, and in addition mayreturn a list of opaque results selected without regard for the userpersona. Further, when making the search results opaque, the travelservice may determine what information to disclose about a travel itembased at least in part on the user persona. For example, the service maydetermine that a “family vacation” persona includes a preference forhotels located near tourist attractions, and on that basis may disclosethat a particular hotel is within walking distance of, e.g., a museum ortheme park. As will be described in more detail below, the disclosedinformation may also be selected to maintain the anonymity of the opaquelisting's supplier prior to purchase.

Embodiments of the present application may utilize a network-basedtravel service, which provides information regarding available travelitems from a plurality of travel item providers, without revealing theidentities of suppliers prior to purchase. Illustratively, a user maysubmit a query for accommodation in City A on a given date to thenetwork-based travel service. Thereafter, the service may identify a setof available travel items based on the user's query, generate a list ofopaque search results based on these available travel items, and returnthe list of opaque search results to the user for selection. In someinstances, the user may prefer accommodations that offer particularfeatures or amenities. However, the network-based travel service may beunable to disclose specific attributes of the travel item withoutindirectly disclosing the identity of the supplier. For example, theremay only be one hotel located within ten minutes of a particular citycenter that provides a fitness center, a spa, and wireless internetaccess. Disclosing these attributes would thus allow the user toidentify the supplier indirectly. Similarly, the service may be unableto permit the user to specify individual attributes in a search querywithout exposing the identity of the supplier. Using the hotel of theprevious example, if the user search criteria specified only hotelswithin ten minutes of a city center that provided a fitness center, aspa, and wireless internet access, only one hotel would match thecriteria. Returning a single opaque search result would thus indirectlydisclose the identity of the supplier, regardless of which attributesthe travel service actually disclosed.

Accordingly, it may be desirable to enable a user to express apreference for accommodations that offer particular groups ofattributes, without enabling the user to specify individual attributesand thereby discover the identity of the supplier. For example, anetwork-based travel service may provide the user an option to bias thesearch in favor of family-friendly accommodations, where afamily-friendly accommodation is defined as one that has a swimmingpool, proximity to tourist attractions, and free wireless internetaccess. This bias may be introduced in the form of a user persona, whichembodies a non-user-specific set of preferences for various travel itemattributes. A user's past travel purchases, travel search history, andother profile information of the user may be examined to determine arelevant persona. In some embodiments, the network-based travel servicemay utilize a persona to create a customized search, the terms of whichmay be invisible to the user, and thereafter perform the customizedsearch to locate travel items of interest to the user. Further, a searchresult may disclose certain features of an accommodation based in parton the user's preference for accommodations providing these attributes.For example, when facilitating a search query using a “family vacation”persona, the service may disclose that an opaque listing is located inproximity to local theme parks and attractions.

In some embodiments, the network-based travel service may determine apersona to be assigned to a user search query based on explicitinstructions from the user, such as the user selecting a persona whencreating a travel item query. In other embodiments, the travel servicemay determine a persona to be assigned to a user search queryindirectly, such as by analyzing previous search queries of the user,travel histories of the user, or web browsing activities of the user.For example, the travel service may analyze web server logs to detectthat a user tends to click links for business hotels, and subsequentlyassociate a business persona to queries of the user, thereafterproviding search results to the user that are based on the businesspersona. Further, as will be described in more detail below, the travelservice may associate multiple personas to a user, or may dynamicallygenerate a persona based on information about the querying user andother users with similar characteristics.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may maintain a set of weightingfactors for each persona, which represent and correspond to thepreferences of the persona. For example, a “business” persona mayinclude a strong interest in accommodations with a business center andinterne access, a mild interest in accommodations with a fitness centerand swimming pool, and a low interest in accommodations with freeparking and proximity to tourist attractions. In some embodiments, theseweighting factors may be predetermined (e.g., manually established by anoperator of the travel service). The service may quantify theseweighting factors in buckets (e.g., high, medium or low) or on a numericscale. Illustratively, the service may assign determined weightsassociated with a specific persona to attributes of available travelitems, such as the quality of service associated with the travel item,amenities provided by the travel item, ratings of the travel item, orthe location of the travel item relative to other travel items purchasedby the user. The travel service may further assign weighting factors foreach persona based on an accommodation's proximity to, for example,transit hubs, urban areas, business centers, public parks, museums,theme parks, convention centers, sports arenas, tourist attractions, orother landmarks. Still further, the travel service may exclude certainattributes, such as an accommodation's price or its class of service,from the weighting factors for a persona. The travel service may use theweighting factors associated with a persona to determine whether anavailable travel item is more likely or less likely to satisfy a usersearch query, and may thus use the weighting factors to provide morerelevant travel items when returning opaque search results. To preservethe opacity of search results, the travel service may avoid disclosingthe weighting factors that were used to determine relevant travel items.The travel service may disclose, for example, that a “vacation” personawas used to determine relevant travel items, but not that the “vacation”persona applied a high weighting factor to accommodations with swimmingpools. The user's ability to assess the relevance of the opaque searchresults, and in particular to identify the suppliers of travel items,may thus be limited.

In other embodiments, the travel service may determine weighting factorsfor personas dynamically, based on analyses of the activities ofmultiple users. For example, the travel service may analyze recent hotelselections by travelers to a resort destination, determine that aleisure travel persona should be associated with these travelers, andfurther determine that a leisure traveler persona represents anaggregate preference of these travelers for hotels with a spa and anaggregate indifference of these travelers to whether a hotel has aconference center. Illustratively, the travel service may analyze datasuch as travel item purchases, search queries, hotel occupancy rates,and traveler reviews by multiple users corresponding to a persona todynamically determine a persona's weighting factors based on aggregatedactivity of a plurality of travelers corresponding to the persona. Thetravel service may further analyze the activities of multiple users todynamically determine the personas themselves based on patterns orclusters of user behaviors. For example, the travel service maydynamically identify a “spring break” persona by detecting similaritiesin the travel item purchases of adults age 18 to 25 in the months ofMarch and April.

In some embodiments, the network-based travel service may analyzeratings of a travel item, determine that particular sets of ratings aremore relevant or less relevant to a specified user persona, anddetermine weighting factors for the user persona based on the relevanceof the sets of ratings. Generally described, ratings are feedback abouta travel item. Past travelers may explicitly provide such feedback, orthe travel service may infer ratings based on data such as travel itempopularity, repeat consumers, customer service interactions, or datafrom other sources. A rating may be expressed, for example, on a numericscale, as a number of stars or other symbols, as an either-or selection,as a written essay, or as an audio-visual presentation. Illustratively,the travel service may analyze ratings for an accommodation anddetermine that sets of ratings correspond to user persona. For example,an accommodation that is inexpensive, inconveniently located, andprovides some amenities for business travelers may receive high ratingsfrom one group of travelers, low ratings from a second group oftravelers, and average ratings from a third group travelers. The travelservice may determine that these groups of travelers correspond to abudget-conscious persona, a leisure traveler persona, and a businesstraveler persona. The network-based travel service may further determinethat, for example, the leisure traveler persona should apply a strongweighting factor to ratings from other leisure travelers, a weakweighting factor to ratings from budget-conscious travelers, and shoulddisregard ratings from business travelers. The travel service may thenapply weighting factors accordingly, making it less likely that thetravel service will recommend the accommodation in question to usersassociated with a leisure traveler persona.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, anetwork-based travel service may generate opaque search results thatvary in opacity and price based at least in part on the user persona.Illustratively, a user associated with a business persona may consider afitness center to be a key factor when choosing accommodation. The usermay thus be willing to spend more to ensure that an opaque travel itemhas a fitness center, while still spending less than the cost of bookingan accommodation through a traditional sales channel. The user maytherefore select a higher-priced opaque search result that discloses afitness center, instead of selecting an opaque search result that isless expensive but more opaque (i.e., one that does not disclose whetherthe accommodation has a fitness center). As a further example, anetwork-based travel service may provide a leisure traveler with opaquesearch results containing three accommodation choices, the first ofwhich discloses that it provides a spa. In actuality both the first andsecond accommodation provide a spa, and only the third accommodationdoes not. The user may be willing to pay for certainty that theaccommodation will have the desired amenity, and may opt to pay a higherprice for the first choice in order to ensure that the accommodationwill have a spa. In a further embodiment, the travel service maygenerate one or more opaque search results based on a single travelitem, with each result disclosing a different set of attributes andbeing priced according to the specific set of attributes disclosed. Inthis embodiment, multiple opaque search results may be created based onthe same travel item.

In some embodiments, a network-based travel service determines a maximalset of attributes of a travel item that can be disclosed within anopaque search result while preserving a desired level of opacity for thecorresponding travel item. Illustratively, the travel service may havean inventory of four “three-star” hotels in a particular area. All fourhotels may provide a fitness center, swimming pool, free parking, and anon-site restaurant. In addition, Hotel A may provide an airport shuttleservice and a spa, Hotels B and C may provide complimentary internetaccess, and Hotel D may provide both a spa and complimentary internetaccess. An opaque listing that disclosed, for example, that theaccommodation provided an airport shuttle would thus allow a user toidentify the travel item as Hotel A, since Hotel A is the only one ofthe four with an airport shuttle service. The travel service maytherefore determine that the airport shuttle service of Hotel A cannotbe disclosed. The travel service may further determine that attributescan be disclosed even if such disclosures reduce the degree ofanonymity, provided that the user still cannot uniquely identify thesupplier. For example, an opaque listing that discloses a spa may allowthe user to rule out the possibility that the accommodation is Hotel Bor C, but does not allow a user to definitively identify the travel itemas Hotel A, since Hotel D also provides a spa. The travel service maytherefore determine that the spa feature of Hotel A can be disclosed.However, the travel service may determine that it cannot disclose boththe spa feature and the complimentary internet access feature of HotelD, since disclosing both attributes would rule out all three of theother hotels.

Further, in some embodiments, the travel service may determine thedegree of anonymity in an opaque search result based on the preferencesof the user persona. For example, if the user has selected a leisurepersona, and the leisure persona places a high value on spa amenities,the network-based travel service may permit a lesser degree of anonymityin order to disclose that the opaque travel item provides a spa.Alternatively, the network-based travel service may transmit, forexample, an indication that one or more displayed opaque search resultsare recommended for leisure travelers, thus implicitly signaling thatopaque search results in that set are more likely to provide a spa,without explicitly disclosing that any given opaque search resultcorresponds to a travel item providing a spa.

A network-based travel service may further output multiple sets ofopaque search results, each corresponding to a specific persona. Forexample, a service may output a first set of opaque search resultsselected based on a business traveler persona, and a second set ofopaque search results selected based on an economy traveler persona. Insome embodiments, the same opaque search result may appear in both thefirst set and the second set. In other embodiments, the travel servicemay generate multiple opaque search results based on a single travelitem, and each set of recommendations may include these results.

Still further, a network-based travel service may output a set of opaquesearch results based on a combination of personas. Illustratively, atravel service may associate a user query with both a leisure travelpersona and an economy travel persona, and may output a set of opaqueresults selected based on the combined weighting factors of the leisureand economy personas. The travel service may further apply the weightingfactors of each persona in proportion to their degree of associationwith the user query. For example, the travel service 150 may determine,based on a travel history, that a user's hotel selections are consistentwith those of a business traveler persona 80% of the time, andconsistent with a budget traveler persona 20% of the time. The travelservice may therefore apply the weighting factors of the businesspersona and the budget persona in an 80%/20% proportion to output a setof relevant opaque results for the user.

Though described herein with respect to specific types of travelservices, embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to anytravel item, including but not limited to flights, accommodations, othertransportation, activities, tours, travel insurance, day trips, ordestination services. Moreover, aspects of the present disclosure may beapplied with respect to other item queries, and should not be construedto be limited to travel services unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Moreover, though illustrative examples are provided herein with regardto presenting opaque travel item recommendations to a user, aspects ofthe present disclosure may be applied to any network-based travelservice that generates a set of opaque search results, and should not beconstrued to be limited to travel services that present information ormake recommendations to users. For example, a travel item searchaggregator (e.g., a service which aggregates travel item informationfrom a variety of travel item service providers) may query anetwork-based travel service, and the service may respond bytransmitting a list of opaque query results to the aggregator, with anyuser presentation occurring in the context of the aggregator. As afurther example, a network-based travel service may transmit lists ofopaque travel items in response to inputs other than travel item searchqueries, such as a user requesting a web page or a travel agentrequesting a list of popular items.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting an illustrative operatingenvironment in which a network-based travel service 150 enablescustomers to view opaque search results and acquire corresponding travelitems made available by third party providers or the operator of thetravel service 150. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the operating environmentincludes one or more traveler computing devices 110 in communicationwith a network-based travel service 150 via a network 120. A third partyprovider may make an inventory data store 130 containing travel items,or information regarding travel items, available to the travel service150 via the network 120. Illustratively, the inventory data store 130may correspond to a global distribution system (GDS), computerizedreservation system (CRS), or inventory system of a travel item supplier.The travel service 150 may then use the third party travel items, aswell as travel items from its own inventory data store 156, to generateopaque listings for travel items. Accordingly, a user, using a travelercomputing device 110, may browse the opaque travel item listingsavailable from the travel service 150, search for travel items andreceive opaque search results, and acquire, reserve, or book one or moredesired travel items (e.g., as represented by an opaque search result),after which the travel service 150 reveals the identity of the travelitem supplier.

A traveler computing device 110 may be any computing device, such as alaptop or tablet computer, personal computer, server, personal digitalassistant (PDA), hybrid PDA/mobile phone, mobile phone, electronic bookreader, set top box, camera, digital media player, and the like. Thethird party inventory data store 130 and traveler computing devices 110may communicate with the travel service 150 via a network 120. Thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that the network 120 may be any wirednetwork, wireless network or combination thereof. In addition, thenetwork 120 may be a personal area network, local area network, widearea network, cable network, satellite network, cellular telephonenetwork, or combination thereof. In the illustrated embodiment, thenetwork 120 is the Internet. Protocols and components for communicatingvia the Internet or any of the other aforementioned types ofcommunication networks are well known to those skilled in the art ofcomputer communications and thus need not be described in more detailherein. Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that thetraveler computing devices 110 of FIG. 1 illustrate a particularembodiment, and that the travel service 150 may communicate, forexample, via telephone or through a third-party travel agent.

In the illustrated embodiment, the travel service 150 may be a computerenvironment including several computer systems that are interconnectedusing one or more networks. More specifically, the travel service 150may include a user interface module 152, an opaque listing server 154, atravel item inventory data store 156, a persona rules engine 158, and anopacity rules engine 160. However, it will be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art that the travel service 150 could have fewer orgreater components than are illustrated in FIG. 1. In addition, thetravel service 150 could include various web services and/orpeer-to-peer network configurations. Additionally, in some embodiments,the travel service 150 may be implemented by one more virtual machinesimplemented in a hosted computing environment. The hosted computingenvironment may include one or more rapidly provisioned and releasedcomputing resources, which computing resources may include computing,networking and/or storage devices. A hosted computing environment mayalso be referred to as a cloud-computing environment. Thus, thedepiction of the travel service 150 in FIG. 1 should be taken asillustrative and not limiting to the present disclosure.

The user interface module 152 may facilitate searching, browsing, andacquisition (e.g., by reservation, booking, etc.) of opaque listings oftravel items by users via traveler computing devices 110. In someembodiments, the user interface module 152 may include a web server forgeneration of webpages facilitating such searching, browsing, andacquisition. Examples of a user interface that may be generated by theuser interface module 152 will be described in more detail in FIGS.3A-3B, below.

In some embodiments, the user interface module 152 may store apredefined, manually created list of personas. Alternatively, in someembodiments, the user interface module 152 may interact with a personarules engine 158 to acquire, store, and maintain persona information.For example, the user interface module 152 may request a list ofavailable personas from the persona rules engine 158. As described indetail below, the persona rules engine 158 may generate lists ofpersonas based on analyses of data from multiple users of the travelservice. Illustratively, the user interface module 152 may transmitpersona information to traveler computing devices 110 via the network120.

The travel service 150 may further include an opaque listing server 154configured to process queries for opaque listings of travel items,interact with a travel item inventory data store 156 to retrieverelevant travel items in response to the query, and generate and displayopaque listings of the relevant travel items to a user. The travel iteminventory data store 156 may correspond to any persistent orsubstantially persistent data store, such as one or more hard diskdrives (HDDs), solid state drives (SSDs), or network attached storagedevices (NASs). The travel item inventory data store 156 may storeinformation regarding travel items, such as a hotel's geographiclocation, quality of service, room rates, amenities, proximity to localpoints of interest, the quantity and type of rooms available on a givendate, etc. The opaque listing server 154 may retrieve items from thetravel item inventory data store 156 based on any of these criteria. Theopaque listing server 154 may be further configured to interface with athird party inventory data store 130 via the network 120. Like thetravel item inventory data store 156, the third party inventory datastore 130 may correspond to any persistent or substantially persistentdata store, and may store similar information regarding travel items.Although not shown in FIG. 1, the opaque listing server 154 may beconfigured to interface with multiple third party inventory data stores130.

Still further, the travel service 150 may include a persona rules engine158 configured to determine a persona for a user, determine a set ofweighting factors corresponding to the persona, and return theseweighting factors in response to a request to provide them. The personarules engine 158 may be configured to determine a persona for a specificuser based at least in part on information about the user. Suchinformation may include the user's prior search queries, web browsingbehavior, travel histories, current destination, characteristics of thesearch query, or other relevant data. Illustratively, the persona rulesengine 158 may compare information about the user to information aboutother users who have been associated with personas. For example, a usermay perform a search query for hotels without providing aself-identified persona. By comparing the details of the user's searchto searches performed by previous users who have been associated withpersonas, the persona rules engine 158 may determine a persona toassociate with the user. The previous users may have self-identified asadopting a particular persona, or may have been associated with personasthrough previous determinations of the persona rules engine 158.Illustratively, the user may, without supplying a self-identifiedpersona, search for weekend travel to a popular resort destination. Thepersona rules engine 158 may compare the user's search to previoussearches by previous users, and may determine through analysis thatother users making similar searches typically self-identify with the“leisure traveler” persona. The persona rules engine 158 may thereforedetermine that the “leisure traveler” persona should be associated withthe user.

The persona rules engine 158 may be further configured to determine andreturn a set of weighting factors corresponding to a persona. Theweighting factors corresponding to each persona may be predetermined, ormay be determined dynamically based at least in part on analyses ofmultiple travelers associated with the persona. As an example of thelatter, the persona rules engine 158 may analyze the travel histories ofusers associated with the “leisure travel” persona who travel to aparticular destination, and may identify that these users tend to selecthotels near the ocean with a swimming pool and a spa. The persona rulesengine 158 may further identify that these users show only a slightpreference for hotel attributes such as free parking and a fitnesscenter, and that attributes such as a conference center have no relationto the hotel selections of this group of users. The persona rules engine158 may thus dynamically determine a set of weighting factors inaccordance with these identified preferences. The persona rules engine158 may further use an iterative, machine-learning process todynamically update the weighting factors corresponding to the persona.

Still further, the persona rules engine 158 may use an iterative,machine-learning process to dynamically update the users and theweighting factors associated with a persona. For example, the personarules engine 158 may analyze a set of users purchasing accommodationsduring the work week near a major transit hub, may determine that theseusers correspond to a “business travel” persona, and may update theweighting factors of the “business travel” persona to include thepreferences of the newly identified users. The persona rules engine 158may analyze users of both opaque and traditional travel services todynamically update the users and weighting factors associated with apersona.

Illustratively, the weighting factors returned by the persona rulesengine 158 may be used (e.g., by the opaque listing server 154) toidentify a hotel whose attributes correlate positively with theweighting factors. For example, the weighting factors corresponding to a“family vacation” persona may indicate a strong positive preference forhotels near a theme park, a weak positive preference for free parking,and a strong negative preference for hotels near an airport. Theseweighting factors may be used to determine that the attributes of ahotel (e.g., one with free parking near a theme park) correlatepositively with the preferences of the “family vacation” persona, thatthe attributes of a different hotel (e.g., one with free parking near anairport) are a mix of positive and negative correlations that sum to anet negative, and accordingly that the former hotel is more relevant tothe persona.

The weighting factors determined by the persona rules engine 158 may bein the form of numerical scores, mathematical formulas, ranking“buckets” (e.g., high, medium, and low), conditionals, or other rulesfor preferring one travel item to another. Though not shown in FIG. 1,the persona rules engine 158 may further store sets of persona weightingfactors in a data store.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, the travel service 150 may furtherinclude an opacity rules engine 160 configured to generate a set ofdisclosable attributes for one or more travel items. As will bedescribed below, the opacity rules engine 160 may determine, for a giventravel item, a set of travel item attributes to disclose to the user,based at least in part on whether revealing the attributes would enablethe user to readily identify the supplier of the travel item. Forexample, the opacity rules engine 160 may determine that a four-starhotel in a particular geographic area is the only one in its classoffering a particular set of amenities (e.g., a complimentary breakfast,a spa, a fitness center, and a complimentary airport shuttle). Theopacity rules engine 160 may further determine that a second four-starhotel in the same area offers a second set of amenities that overlapsthe first (e.g., wireless internet access, a spa, and a fitness center).Since both hotels offer the spa and fitness center attributes, the rulesengine 160 may determine that disclosing the spa and the fitness centerwithin an opaque listing of the first hotel will not reveal the identityof the first hotel. In some embodiments, the opacity rules engine 160may predetermine a set of attributes that can be disclosed within anopaque listing for each travel item in the travel item inventory datastore 156. Alternatively, the opacity rules engine 160 may determine theset of attributes that can be disclosed within an opaque listing of eachtravel item at the time of a user's query (e.g., based at least in parton the other travel items in a set of query results).

The opacity rules engine 160 may further be configured to generate a setof disclosable attributes based at least in part on a persona associatedwith a search query. For example, the opacity rules engine 160 mayreceive weighting factors from the persona rules engine 158 thatindicate a strong preference for an accommodation with a restaurant onpremises. The opacity rules engine 160 may subsequently indicate that anaccommodation's on-premises restaurant can be disclosed, even ifdisclosing this attribute narrows the list of possible suppliers orindirectly discloses the supplier.

With reference now to FIGS. 2A-2C, illustrative interactions forproviding opaque search results based on a travel item query and apersona will be described. Specifically, FIG. 2A depicts an illustrativeinteraction for submission of a search query by a traveler computingdevice 110 to the travel service 150, and for determination of a set ofrelevant travel items (e.g., to potentially be included within a listingof opaque search results) by the opaque listing server 154. FIG. 2Bdepicts an illustrative interaction for determination of a persona andcorresponding set of persona preferences to associate with the searchquery. FIG. 2C depicts an illustrative interaction for generation of oneor more opaque search results based on a travel item search query andthe persona, and for transmission of the opaque search results to thetraveler computing device 110.

With reference now to FIG. 2A, at (1), a traveler computing device 110may submit travel queries to the travel service 150 through the userinterface module 152. The travel query may include search criteriaspecifying one or more types of travel items desired by a travelercomputing device 110, as well as desired attributes for such travelitems. For example, a travel query may correspond to a query forflights, hotels, cars, cruises, travel packages, combinations thereof,etc. A travel query may further include an indication of a user persona.For example, a travel query may indicate that the user is querying fortravel items associated with business travel. An indication of a userpersona may be explicit (e.g., self-selected by the user) or implicit(e.g., determined by analyzing a travel history of the user thatindicates past business travel). As described in more detail below withregard to FIG. 3, a travel query may indicate multiple personas, and mayindicate a relative proportion for each persona. Although not shown inFIG. 2A, traveler computing devices 110 may submit travel queries via anetwork 120. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, the submissionof travel queries by traveler computing devices 110 is illustrative andthe travel service 150 may receive queries from any source. For example,an aggregator site or a travel agent operating on behalf of a user maysubmit queries to the travel service 150.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the userinterface module 152 may, at (2), transmit a travel query to the opaquelisting server 154 and request that the opaque listing server 154generate one or more opaque listings based on the travel query. Asdescribed above, in some embodiments, the travel query includes anexplicit indication of a user persona, which the user interface module152 transmits to the opaque listing server 154 with the search query. Inother embodiments, the travel query does not include an indication of auser persona, and the user interface module 152 may request that apersona be determined and associated with the query. The user interfacemodule 152 may further transmit user information, such as a searchhistory or a web server log, to the opaque listing server 154 forfurther transmission to the persona rules engine 158, which may utilizethe information to determine a persona.

After reception of the travel query by the opaque listing server 154,the opaque listing server 154 may, at (3), query the travel iteminventory data store 156 for travel items that are relevant to thetravel query search criteria. For example, the search criteria mayspecify that the user is seeking four-star hotels within a certaindistance of a major airport that have rooms available on certain dates.The opaque listing server 154 may query the travel item inventory datastore 156 for hotels meeting the search criteria. Subsequently, thetravel item inventory data store 156 may, at (4), return a set of travelitems that are relevant to the search query. Although not shown in FIG.2A, the opaque listing server 154 may further query one or more thirdparty inventory data stores 130 via the network 120 for travel itemsthat are relevant to the search criteria. The third party inventory datastores 130 may return sets of travel items relevant to the search queryvia the network 120. The opaque listing server 154 may aggregate sets ofrelevant travel items received from multiple sources. Still further, asdescribed in more detail below, the opaque listing server 154 mayrequest that the persona rules engine 158 provide one or more geographicareas corresponding to the persona, and may utilize these geographicareas when determining relevant travel items.

With reference now to FIG. 2B, an illustrative interaction fordetermination of a set of persona preferences, and association of thepersona preferences to the search query of FIG. 2A, will be described.The interaction of FIG. 2B may be carried out, for example, subsequentto the interaction of FIG. 2A. However, one skilled in the art willunderstand that the interaction of FIG. 2B may be carried out prior to,or in parallel with, the interaction of FIG. 2A. One skilled in the artwill further understand that the interactions may be carried out bymodules other than those illustrated. For example, in some embodiments,the user interface module 152, rather than the opaque listing server154, may request that the persona rules engine 158 return personapreferences associated with a persona, which may include a set ofweighting factors. The user interface module 152 may subsequentlyreceive these persona preferences from the persona rules engine 158, andtransmit the persona preferences to the opaque listing server 154 alongwith the travel item query.

In the illustrated embodiment, the opaque listing server 154 mayrequest, at (5), that the persona rules engine 158 return personapreferences that correspond to personas associated with a user searchquery. The opaque listing server 154 may transmit personas associatedwith a user search query to the persona rules engine 158. In alternativeembodiments, where a user search query is created without an explicitindication of persona, the opaque listing server 154 may transmitinformation that enables the persona rules engine 158 to determinepersonas. For example, the opaque listing server 154 may transmit apurchase history for the user that indicates past leisure travel.

The persona rules engine 158 may, at (6), determine a number of personasto associate with the travel query. As described above, the personarules engine 158 may receive from the opaque listing server 154 one ormore indicated personas. In such embodiments, the persona rules engine158 uses the indicated personas. In other embodiments, the opaquelisting server 154 may transmit information about the user submittingthe query that enables the persona rules engine 158 to determinepersonas. Information about the user may include, for example, searchhistories, travel histories, web browsing behavior, a travel query,information about a queried destination or geographical area, and otherrelevant data. In one embodiment, the persona rules engine 158 mayinspect search criteria submitted by the user to determine a persona toassociate with the search query. For example, a search query for weekendaccommodation at a popular resort destination, or for travel surroundinga common holiday, may result in associating a leisure persona with thesearch. Similarly, searches directed to weekday travel in majormetropolitan areas may result in a business persona being associatedwith the search. In another embodiment, the persona rules engine 158 mayinspect a user's travel history to determine a persona to associate withthe search query. For example, if the user has previously traveled to aspecific location for business purposes, future searches for travelitems associated with the specific location may be more likely to beassociated with a business persona.

The persona rules engine 158 may be further configured to dynamicallycreate a persona for the current user, based at least in part oninformation about the user and analyses of multiple travelers. Thepersona rules engine 158 may analyze, for example, the travel history,web browsing history, query history, and demographics of the currentuser, and may identify other travelers with similar characteristics. Thepersona rules engine 158 may then dynamically create a persona anddetermine a set of weighting factors based on the activities of theother travelers. Illustratively, the persona rules engine 158 mayreceive information about the current user that includes a query forhotels in City A, and a travel history including hotel stays in Cities Band C. The persona rules engine 158 may identify other travelers whosetravel histories include stays in the same or similar hotels in Cities Band C. The persona rules engine 158 may then dynamically create apersona for the current user based at least in part on the othertravelers' hotel selections in City A.

With continued reference to FIG. 2B, at (7), the persona rules engine158 may return to the opaque listing server 154 persona preferences thatcorrespond to personas determined as described above. The personapreferences may be a set of weighting factors corresponding to a set oftravel item attributes. For example, a set of weighting factors may beassociated with a business traveler persona, and may indicate a strongpositive preference for hotel amenities such as wireless internet accessand proximity to a travel hub, a weak positive preference for amenitiessuch as a fitness center, and a strong negative preference forattributes such as proximity to theme parks. In some embodiments, thepersona rules engine 158 may store and maintain predetermined sets ofweighting factors for personas. In other embodiments, as describedabove, the persona rules engine 158 may determine sets of weightingfactors dynamically based at least in part on, for example, travel itempurchase histories, traveler reviews, analyses of travel items andassociated attributes, and data from other sources.

The persona rules engine 158 may further be configured to determine aset of weighting factors by combining a number of personas. For example,as described in more detail above, the persona rules engine 158 maydetermine that a user's hotel selections are consistent with a businesstraveler persona 80% of the time and a budget traveler persona 20% ofthe time. The persona rules engine 158 may therefore apply a linearweighting algorithm, for example an 0.80 multiplier to the businesspersona weighting factors and an 0.20 multiplier to the budget personaweighting factors, to combine them into a single set. As a furtherexample, in some embodiments, the persona rules engine 158 may combinesets of weighting factors by determining the unions or intersections ofthe sets.

In a further embodiment, the persona rules engine 158 may determine andreturn persona preferences that correspond to one or more geographicareas. For example, the persona rules engine 158 may determine that abusiness travel persona corresponds to an interest in hotels near aconvention center, hotels near an airport, and hotels near a businessdistrict. As a further example, the persona rules engine 158 maydetermine that a leisure travel persona corresponds to an interest inhotels near a theme park, hotels near the ocean, and hotels near ashopping district. Like the weighting factors, the persona rules engine158 may store predetermined sets of geographic areas for personas, or inother embodiments may determine geographic areas dynamically based atleast in part on traveler information.

With reference now to FIG. 2C, an illustrative interaction forgeneration of opaque search results, based on the relevant travel items,user personas, and a disclosable set of travel item attributes, will bedescribed. In some embodiments, the opaque listing server 154, at (8),may identify one or more travel items that may form the basis of one ormore opaque search results. The opaque listing server 154 may utilize aset of weighting factors received from the persona rules engine 158 toidentify travel items that are relevant to a persona. Illustratively,the opaque listing server 154 may use weighting factors to generate ascore for each travel item, may rank order the travel items, and mayidentify the highest-scoring item or items. For example, the set ofweighting factors for accommodation attributes for a family vacationpersona may be as follows: swimming pool, 9.0; spa, 8.0; proximity totourist attractions, 10.0; fitness center, 6.5; free breakfast, 7.0;free parking, 8.5; business center, 5.0; proximity to businessdistricts, 1.0. The opaque listing server 154 may sum the weightingfactors for Hotel A, which has a fitness center and free parking, anddetermine a score of 15.0. The opaque listing server 154 may furtherdetermine a score of 27.0 for Hotel B, which has a swimming pool, a spa,and is located near a museum, and a score of 6.0 for Hotel C, which hasa business center and is located near a business district. The opaquelisting server 154 may therefore identify Hotel B as the travel itemmost relevant to the persona. As one skilled in the art will appreciate,the opaque listing server 154 may use any combination of weightingfactors and mathematical formulas to identify the travel item or itemsincluding attributes that correlate with the preferences of a persona.

The opaque listing server 154 may further identify a different set oftravel items without utilizing a set of weighting factors received fromthe persona rules engine 158. Still further, the opaque listing server154 may request and receive additional sets of weighting factors fromthe persona rules engine 158, and may further identify travel itemsbased on these weighting factors. The opaque listing server 154 mayfurther apply combinations, unions, or intersections of weightingfactors to identify travel items, and may apply weighting factors inproportion to the relevance of the associated personas.

After identifying a travel item or items, the opaque listing server 154may, at (9), request that the opacity rules engine 160 return a set oftravel item attributes that can be disclosed without revealing theidentity of the travel item supplier. The opaque listing server 154 maytransmit one or more identified travel items with the request. In someembodiments, the opacity rules engine 160, at (10), may determine a setof disclosable attributes for each identified travel item. In otherembodiments, the opacity rules engine 160, at (10), may determine a setof disclosable attributes applicable to all identified travel items. Theopacity rules engine 160 may be configured to store a predetermineddisclosable attribute set for each travel item in the travel iteminventory data store 156. Alternatively, the opacity rules engine 160may be configured to dynamically determine a disclosable attribute setfor a travel item. The opacity rules engine 160 may base itsdetermination on the set of travel items in the travel item inventorydata store 156, on a set of travel items aggregated by the opaquelisting server 154, or on one or more travel items identified by theopaque listing server 154 as relevant to a persona. The opacity rulesengine 160 may further base its determination on the geographic areasreturned by the persona rules engine 158.

Illustratively, the opaque listing server 154 may request that theopacity rules engine 160 determine a disclosable set of travel itemattributes associated with Hotel X, which the opaque listing server 154has identified as relevant to a persona. Hotel X illustratively providesamenities including a fitness center, wireless interne access, freeparking, and a swimming pool. The opacity rules engine 160 may beconfigured, for example, to store a determination that the fitnesscenter and swimming pool of Hotel X may be disclosed without revealingthe identity of Hotel X. The opacity rules engine 160 thereforedetermines that the disclosable set of attributes is the fitness centerand the swimming pool. Although not shown in FIG. 2C, in someembodiments, the opacity rules engine may query the travel iteminventory data store 156 for hotels similar to Hotel X, and maydetermine a disclosable set of attributes based at least in part on thesimilar hotels. For example, the opacity rules engine 160 may query thetravel item inventory data store 156 and receive Hotels Y and Z, whichare in the same geographic area as Hotel X and have the same quality ofservice (e.g., they are all three-star hotels). Hotel Y, in thisexample, has a fitness center, a swimming pool, and free parking. HotelZ illustratively has a fitness center, free parking, and a businesscenter. The opacity rules engine 160 may determine, based at least inpart on the attributes of these three hotels, that the disclosable setof attributes is a fitness center and free parking. Alternatively, theopacity rules engine 160 may determine that the disclosable set ofattributes is a fitness center, a swimming pool, and free parking, whichreveals that the travel item is not Hotel Z (because Hotel Z does nothave a swimming pool) but does not reveal whether the item is Hotel X orHotel Y.

In further embodiments, the opaque listing server 154 transmits a set oftravel items to the opacity rules engine 160. The set may include travelitems that the opaque listing server 154 has identified as relevant to atravel item query. The set may further include travel items that theopaque listing server 154 has not so identified. The opacity rulesengine 160 may determine a set of disclosable attributes based at leastin part on the set of travel items transmitted by the opaque listingserver 154. Illustratively, the opaque travel item server may query thetravel item inventory data store 156 for relevant travel items andreceive Hotels J, K, and L. The opaque travel item server may thendetermine, as described above, that Hotel J is relevant to a travel itemquery. The opaque listing server 154 may then transmit Hotels J, K, andL to the opacity rules engine 160 with a request that the rules engine160 determine a disclosable set of attributes for Hotel J. The opacityrules engine may determine the disclosable attributes of Hotel J basedat least in part on the attributes of Hotels J, K, and L.

After determining which attributes of a travel item can be disclosedwithout revealing the identity of the travel item supplier, the opacityrules engine 160 may, at (11), return the determined set of travel itemattributes. The rules engine 160 may indicate that certain attributesmay be disclosed without revealing the supplier identity, and that otherattributes may not be disclosed. The opacity rules engine 160 mayfurther indicate that certain attributes will always be disclosed, suchas the quality of service (e.g., whether the travel item is a three-starhotel or a four-star hotel), or may exclude attributes from itsdetermination when the attributes in question will always be disclosedor will never be disclosed. Still further, the rules engine 160 mayindicate a degree of risk associated with disclosing a particularattribute or attributes. For example, the opacity rules engine 160 maydetermine that Hotel J is one of three possible suppliers of a four-starhotel in a particular geographic area with a business center.Accordingly, the opacity rules engine 160 may indicate that disclosingthe quality of service, the geographic area, and the business centerwould reduce the list of potential suppliers to three candidates, butwould not (by itself) allow the user to identify the supplier.

Thereafter, the opaque listing server 154, at (12), may generate one ormore opaque search results. The opaque listing server 154 may generatean opaque search result based at least in part on an identified travelitem and a corresponding set of disclosable attributes returned by theopacity rules engine 160. Further, the opaque listing server 154 maygenerate an opaque search result based at least in part on a set ofpersona weighting factors returned by the persona rules engine 158.Illustratively, the opaque listing server 154 may generate an opaquesearch result based on Hotel J. As described above, the opaque listingserver 154 may request and receive a set of weighting factors associatedwith a persona from the persona rules engine 158, and may furtherrequest and receive a set of disclosable attributes corresponding toHotel J from the opacity rules engine 160. Illustratively, the weightingfactors may indicate that proximity to a tourist attraction is of highimportance to a leisure traveler persona, and that a business center isof low importance. Further, the set of disclosable Hotel J attributesmay include a spa, proximity to a tourist attraction, a business center,wireless internet access, and that it is a three-star hotel.Accordingly, the opaque listing server 154 may generate an opaque searchresult that discloses the following information: there is an availablethree-star hotel with a spa that is located in proximity to a touristattraction.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the opaquelisting server 154 may generate multiple opaque search results based atleast in part on a single travel item. For example, the opaque listingserver 154 may generate a second opaque search result based on the HotelJ of the example above: there is an available three-star hotel with abusiness center and wireless internet access. Illustratively, the opaquelisting server 154 may generate the second opaque search result based atleast in part on a different persona than the first. Further, the opaquelisting server 154 may generate opaque search results that are not basedon a persona. The opaque listing server 154 may group these opaquesearch results into sets, and may associate the sets with personas.

In some embodiments, the opaque listing server 154 may determine a pricefor each generated opaque search result. The price may be based at leastin part on the persona and the disclosed set of attributes. For example,the opaque listing server 154 may price the first opaque search resultbased on Hotel J at $119, and may price the second opaque hotel resultbased on Hotel J at $129, based on the attributes disclosed and theirrelative importance to the corresponding personas. The opaque listingserver 154 may further combine the determination of a set of attributesto disclose and the price for an opaque search result, both based atleast in part on a user persona. Illustratively, the opaque listingserver 154 may determine a business traveler persona would prefer ahotel with a fitness center. The opaque listing server 154 may thereforedetermine a higher price for an opaque search result that discloses afitness center, as compared to an opaque search result that does notdisclose a fitness center.

In some embodiments, the opaque listing server 154, at (13), may beconfigured to then return an opaque search result to the user interfacemodule 152. The opaque listing server 154 may be further configured toreturn multiple opaque search results, and may still further groupopaque search results into sets. The user interface module 152 may then,at (14), be configured to transmit these opaque search results totraveler computing devices 110. Although FIG. 2C illustrates aparticular embodiment, one skilled in the art will appreciate thatembodiments of the present disclosure include multiple interactions foroutputting opaque travel item search results. In some embodiments, theopaque listing server 154 may transmit opaque search results to, forexample, traveler computing devices 110, a travel item search resultaggregator, a travel agent operating on behalf of a user, a data store,etc.

With reference now to FIGS. 3A and 3B, an example of a user interface300 for delivery of opaque search results to a traveler computing device110 (e.g., in response to a travel item query) is displayed. As shown inFIG. 3A, the user interface 300 enables a traveler computing device 110to submit travel item queries, to view opaque search results in responseto a submitted travel item query, and to reserve, book, acquire, orpurchase a travel item that corresponds to an opaque search result.Illustratively, the user interface 300 may be generated by the userinterface module 152 and presented on the traveler computing device 110by an application, such as a web browser application, on the travelercomputing device 110. In this example, the user interface 300 contains anavigation panel 302, which directs the user to various other attributesoffered by the travel service 150. Illustratively, units of text withinthe navigation panel 302 may correspond to interactive links, whichmodify or change the user interface when selected. In the currentexample, the user has selected link 304, “Hotels.” Based on thisselection, the user interface module 152 has returned the content foruser interface 300.

By use of the user interface 300, the traveler computing device 110 maysubmit a travel query to the travel service 150, including criteria fordetermining relevant travel items. Illustratively, such a query may besubmitted by use of the search portion 306 of the user interface 300. Asshown in FIG. 3A, the search portion 306 enables a user to specifycriteria for relevant hotel travel items, such as a destination,check-in and check-out dates, and the number of rooms, adults, andchildren. Though a limited set of search criteria is provided in FIG.3A, one skilled in the art will appreciate that additional oralternative criteria may be specified by the traveler computing device110. Accordingly, the criteria described with respect to FIG. 3A isintended to be illustrative, and not limiting.

The search portion 306 of the user interface 300, as shown in FIG. 3A,further enables a user, via the drop-down menu 308, to select a personafor the search query. In the illustrative user interface 300, thecriteria displayed in the search portion 306 may be reflective of aprevious search submitted by the traveler computing device 110.Accordingly, a number of relevant opaque search results are shown withinthe results portion 310, including opaque search results 316-322. Eachopaque search result 316-322 corresponds to a travel item available foracquisition by the user. Further, each opaque search result may havebeen selected based on the submitted search criteria. In the currentexample, each opaque search result 316-322 corresponds to a hotel inSeattle, WA with a room available for check-in on Dec. 31, 2014 andcheck-out on Jan. 2, 2015. One skilled in the art will appreciate thatany number of common user interface controls may be presented to enablethe user to select one or more personas. For example, the user interface300 may present a set of checkboxes for selecting personas, therebyenabling the user to indicate multiple personas in the search query. Asa further example, the user interface 300 may present a set of slidersthat allow the user to indicate, e.g., that the search should be biased75% toward a business persona and 25% toward an economy persona. Theuser interface 300 may further enable the user to dynamically adjustthese controls and receive updated opaque search results.

With continued reference to FIG. 3A, the opaque search results 316-322are illustratively grouped into sets, as reflected by the subheadings312 and 314. Heading 312 indicates that opaque search results 316 and318 have been selected based on a business traveler persona. Heading 314indicates that opaque search results 320 and 322 have been selectedbased on an economy traveler persona. As described above, in someembodiments, sets of opaque search results may be identified based ondifferent personas. Illustratively, the user interface 300 may displayopaque search results for a selected persona and a default persona. InFIG. 3A, the selected persona and the default persona correspond to abusiness traveler persona and an economy traveler persona, respectively.

Opaque search result 316 illustrates a hotel that has been identified asrelevant to a business traveler persona. The search result 316 does notidentify the hotel by name, and does not disclose enough information toallow the user to identify the supplier, but does disclose a set ofattributes relevant to business travelers. The opaque search result 316thus allows the user to evaluate whether the travel item meets his orher travel requirements. Illustratively, opaque search result 316discloses a set of positive ratings by business travelers, and a set oftravel item attributes that are desirable for business travelers,including proximity to a convention center, internet access, a fitnesscenter, and a business center.

Opaque search result 318 illustrates a second hotel identified asrelevant to a business traveler persona. Illustratively, in FIG. 3A,results 316 and 318 are listed in order as the top results most relevantto a business traveler persona. Opaque search result 318 is based on ahotel near Sea-Tac Airport, has some attributes relevant to businesstravelers, and has been priced at $89 per night. Opaque search result320, the top result for economy travelers, is based on the same hotel.As described above, multiple opaque search results may be generated,priced, and displayed based on the same travel item. Opaque searchresult 320 discloses a different set of attributes than opaque searchresult 318, which is reflective of a different set of weighting factors.The price of opaque search result 320 reflects a determination thateconomy travelers are price sensitive, and are unlikely to pay a higherrate in order to guarantee that additional attributes (such as, e.g., abusiness center) will be available. Opaque search result 322, which ispartially shown in FIG. 3A, is the travel item that was second-best onthe list of items relevant to an economy traveler persona.

In alternatives to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3A, the weightingfactors of multiple personas may be combined to identify relevant searchresults, as described in more detail above. In these embodiments,subheadings 312 and 314 may be omitted and a single list of relevantopaque search results may be provided. For example, a list of opaquesearch results may include hotels that are highly relevant to a businesstraveler and leisure traveler persona combined in an 80:20 proportion,as described above with reference to FIG. 2B.

With reference now to FIG. 3B, a modified version of the user interface300 of FIG. 3A will be described. Because many display elements of FIG.3B are similar to those of FIG. 3A, they will not be described in detailwith respect to FIG. 3B.

In one embodiment, the user interface 300 of FIG. 3B may be displayed inresponse to selection of a “family” persona from the drop-down menu 308of FIG. 3A. Accordingly, the user interface 300 of FIG. 3B may bemodified to display opaque search results that are relevant to a familytraveler persona. This may be reflected in the modified header 312, aswell as in the opaque search results 324 and 326. Specifically, opaquesearch results 324 and 326 have replaced opaque search results 316 and318 of FIG. 3A. Opaque search results 324 and 326 now reflect the topsearch results identified for a family traveler persona. Opaque searchresult 324 discloses a hotel near the waterfront with a swimming pool,fitness center, and within walking distance of tourist attractions.Opaque search result 326 discloses a hotel near a major touristattraction (the Space Needle) with free internet, a swimming pool, andwithin walking distance of other tourist attractions. These opaquesearch results reflect the different weighting factors associated withthe family traveler persona, which illustratively place a highimportance on accommodations within walking distance of touristattractions and value a different set of reviewers when evaluatingtraveler reviews. Illustratively, the user interface 300 of FIG. 3Bcontinues to display heading 314 and opaque search results 320 and 322,which are the top results for an economy traveler persona.

Though an illustrative user interface 300 is described above withrespect to FIGS. 3A-3B, opaque search results may be provided to a uservia any number of or type of interfaces. For example, the user interface300 may display two or more of the most recently selected personas(e.g., the family and business personas) rather than the most recentlyselected persona and a default persona. Still further, in someembodiments, results may be displayed in multiple columns, withselectable tabs or buttons, or via other user interface elements thatare commonly known to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the userinterface 300 of FIGS. 3A-3B should be viewed as illustrative, and notlimiting.

With reference now to FIG. 4, one illustrative routine 400 forgeneration of opaque travel item listings based on a user persona willbe described. The illustrative routine 400 may be carried out, forexample, by the opaque listing server 154 of FIG. 1. In someembodiments, blocks of the illustrative routine 400 may be carried outby the persona rules engine 158 of FIG. 1, or by the opacity rulesengine 160 of FIG. 1.

At block 404, a travel item query may be received (e.g., from thetraveler computing devices 110 of FIG. 1, via the network 120 and, insome embodiments, further via the user interface module 152 of FIG. 1).For example, a travel item query may be received including criteria thatspecify a three-night stay for one adult at a three-star hotel in City Aon a given date. A travel item query may contain an indication of a userpersona, such as a business traveler or a leisure traveler. Further, atravel item query may contain information that enables determination ofa user persona, such as query histories or web browsing behavior.

Thereafter, at block 406, one or more available travel items may bedetermined based on the travel item query. As described above, availabletravel items may correspond to criteria in the travel item query. Forexample, the available travel items may include six three-star hotels inCity A that have rooms available on the specified date. Illustratively,for queries regarding accommodations, the available travel items mayinclude information about hotel attributes such as amenities andproximity to local points of interest. The available travel items mayfurther include, for example, traveler ratings, pricing, room types,location within a specified region, or other such information. As afurther example, with respect to flight queries, the available travelitems may include information about attributes such as available seatclasses, in-flight entertainment, meal service, wireless internetaccess, electrical outlets, and similar attributes. Based on the travelitem query, only those available travel items matching one or more ofthe search criteria may be determined.

At block 408, the illustrative routine 400 may determine a user personaand a corresponding set of persona preferences. As one skilled in theart will recognize, block 408 does not depend on block 406 and the twoblocks may be carried out in any order. In some embodiments, asdescribed above, the travel item query may indicate a user persona, inwhich case the corresponding preferences may be determined. In otherembodiments, a persona may be determined indirectly. Illustratively, theillustrative routine 400 may analyze web server logs to determine that auser is browsing resort hotels, and determine that a vacationer personashould be associated with the travel item query. In further embodiments,as described above, more than one persona may be determined. Block 408may be carried out, for example, in whole or in part by the personarules engine 158 of FIG. 1.

Thereafter, at block 410, the travel item query and the list ofavailable travel items may be used to identify relevant travel items.The persona preferences may further be used to identify travel itemsmost relevant to a user persona. Illustratively, after retrieving sixavailable three-star hotels in block 406 and determining a vacationerpersona in block 408, the illustrative routine 400 in block 410 mayidentify one particular hotel as having attributes most relevant to avacationer, such as a spa and proximity to a golf course. In someembodiments, block 410 may correspond to the opaque listing server 154identifying sets of travel items that are relevant to various personas,as described above.

At block 412, a set of disclosable travel item attributes, for inclusionin an opaque travel item listing, may be determined for a specifiedtravel item. In several embodiments, block 412 may be carried out afterthe identification of relevant travel items at block 410, and mayfurther involve a dynamic determination based on the travel itemsidentified. In other embodiments, as discussed above, block 412 may becarried out using a predetermined set of disclosable attributes for eachtravel item, and in these embodiments, the illustrative routine 400 maycarry out blocks 410 and 412 in any order. Illustratively, it may bedetermined that the disclosable attribute set for a relevant travel itemincludes a spa, a fitness center, and proximity to a golf course. Thedisclosable attribute set may be determined based on the attributes ofsimilar travel items, and may be determined such that the disclosedattribute set does not specifically identify the supplier of a travelitem. For example, there may be at least two three-star hotels in agiven area with a spa, business center, and proximity to a golf course.Accordingly, disclosing these attributes will not reveal the identity ofthe supplier, and therefore the illustrative routine 400 at block 412will determine a disclosable attribute set including these attributes.Further, the disclosable attribute set may be determined based ongeographic areas associated with a persona. Block 412 may be carriedout, for example, in whole or in part by the opacity rules engine 160 ofFIG. 1.

Thereafter, at block 414, an opaque travel item listing may begenerated. The generation of an opaque listing may be based on arelevant travel item, as identified at block 410. Generating an opaquelisting may further be based on the list of disclosable attributesdetermined at block 412, and may determine which of the disclosableattributes will actually be disclosed. Still further, generating anopaque listing may be based on the persona preferences determined atblock 408. For example, the illustrative routine 400 may generate anopaque listing based on a three-star hotel identified as relevant to avacationer persona, and may disclose that the hotel has a spa and islocated near a golf course. The generation of an opaque listing mayinclude generation of a price associated with the opaque listing. Theprice may, in some embodiments, be based on the set of disclosedattributes. In still further embodiments, the price may be based on thepersona preferences.

Thereafter, at block 416, an opaque travel item listing may be output.Illustratively, the search result may be output to a traveler computingdevice 110 via a network 120, as shown in FIG. 1. In some embodiments,the search result may be output to a travel item aggregator, a datastore, a web server, or other device. Block 416 of illustrative routine400 may be carried out by, for example, a user interface module 152 asshown in FIG. 1.

Many of the operations of the travel service 150 are sufficientlymathematically or technically complex that one or more computing devicesmay be necessary to carry them out. For example, determining a set ofpersona preferences, identifying a set of available travel items,selecting the travel item most relevant to the persona, determining aset of disclosable travel item attributes, and other operations of thetravel service 150 effectively require resort to one or more computingdevices. Additionally, a computing device may be required to present anopaque travel item, as discussed above.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, routines, andalgorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosedherein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, orcombinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability ofhardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules,and steps have been described above generally in terms of theirfunctionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware orsoftware depends upon the particular application and design constraintsimposed on the overall system. The described functionality can beimplemented in varying ways for each particular application, but suchimplementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the disclosure.

The steps of a method, process, routine, or algorithm described inconnection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be embodieddirectly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, orin a combination of the two. A software module can reside in RAM memory,flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, harddisk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium. An example storage medium can becoupled to the processor such that the processor can read informationfrom, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative,the storage medium can be integral to the processor. The processor andthe storage medium can reside in an ASIC. The ASIC can reside in a userterminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium canreside as discrete components in a user terminal.

Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, “can,” “could,”“might,” “may,” “e.g.,” and the like, unless specifically statedotherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, isgenerally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, whileother embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/orsteps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended toimply that features, elements and/or steps are in any way required forone or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarilyinclude logic for deciding, with or without author input or prompting,whether these features, elements and/or steps are included or are to beperformed in any particular embodiment. The terms “comprising,”“including,” “having,” and the like are synonymous and are usedinclusively, in an open-ended fashion, and do not exclude additionalelements, features, acts, operations, and so forth.

Disjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y, or Z,”unless specifically stated otherwise, is otherwise understood with thecontext as used in general to present that an item, term, etc., may beeither X, Y, or Z, or any combination thereof (e.g., X, Y, and/or Z).Thus, such disjunctive language is not generally intended to, and shouldnot, imply that certain embodiments require at least one of X, at leastone of Y, or at least one of Z to each be present.

Unless otherwise explicitly stated, articles such as “a” or “an” shouldgenerally be interpreted to include one or more described items.Accordingly, phrases such as “a device configured to” are intended toinclude one or more recited devices. Such one or more recited devicescan also be collectively configured to carry out the stated recitations.For example, “a processor configured to carry out recitations A, B andC” can include a first processor configured to carry out recitation Aworking in conjunction with a second processor configured to carry outrecitations B and C.

While the above detailed description has shown, described, and pointedout novel features as applied to various embodiments, it can beunderstood that various omissions, substitutions, and changes in theform and details of the devices or algorithms illustrated can be madewithout departing from the spirit of the disclosure. As can berecognized, certain embodiments of the inventions described herein canbe embodied within a form that does not provide all of the features andbenefits set forth herein, as some features can be used or practicedseparately from others. The scope of certain inventions disclosed hereinis indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription. All changes which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

1. (canceled)
 2. A system comprising: a data store configured to storeinformation identifying a plurality of travel items, each travel itemhaving a plurality of attributes; and a processor in communication withthe data store, the processor configured with executable instructionsthat, when executed by the processor, cause the system to at least:receive, from a user computing device, a query including criteria foridentifying, within the plurality of travel items, a travel itemresponsive to the query, wherein the query is associated with a type ofintended travel; identify, from the data store, the travel itemresponsive to the query; determine, based at least in part on the typeof intended travel, a disclosable set of attributes for the travel item,wherein the disclosable set of attributes includes less than allattributes for the travel item, and wherein the disclosable set ofattributes excludes an identity of a supplier of the travel item; andcause the user computing device to display search results responsive tothe query in a format that includes the disclosable set of attributesfor the travel item and excludes the identity of the supplier.
 3. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein the disclosable set of attributes isdetermined based at least in part on attributes of travel items acquiredby individual travelers associated with the type of intended travel. 4.The system of claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured toassociate a second type of intended travel with the query.
 5. The systemof claim 4, wherein the travel item responsive to the query isidentified based at least in part on the second type of intended travel.6. The system of claim 2, wherein the processor is configured toidentify the type of intended travel.
 7. The system of claim 6, whereinthe type of intended travel is identified based at least in part on oneor more of the query, the user, a set of preferences associated with theuser, a previous query associated with the user, a web browsing historyassociated with the user, or a travel history associated with the user.8. The system of claim 2, wherein the processor is configured togenerate a set of weighting factors associated with the type of intendedtravel.
 9. A computer-implemented method comprising: as implemented byone or more computing devices configured with specific executableinstructions, receiving, from a user, a request for travel itemlistings; obtaining a travel item based at least in part on the request;determining, based at least in part on a type of intended travelassociated with the request, a disclosable set of attributes for thetravel item, wherein the disclosable set of attributes includes lessthan all attributes for the travel item, and wherein the disclosable setof attributes is associated with at least one other travel item; andtransmitting, responsive to the request, an travel item listingcorresponding to the travel item, wherein the travel item listingincludes the disclosable set of attributes and excludes an identity of asupplier of the travel item, and wherein transmitting the travel itemlisting causes a computing device associated with the user to displaythe disclosable set of attributes for the travel item without displayingthe identity of the supplier of the travel item.
 10. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein obtaining the type ofintended travel comprises: identifying, based at least in part on atleast one of the request or the user, a first set of previous travelers;and determining the type of intended travel based at least in part onthe first set of previous travelers.
 11. The computer-implemented methodof claim 10, wherein the first set of previous travelers is identifiedbased at least in part on one or more of a destination associated withthe request, a check-in date, a check-out date, a number of travelersassociated with the request, or the ages of one or more travelersassociated with the request.
 12. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 10, wherein the first set of previous travelers is identifiedbased at least in part on at least one of a travel history of the user,a browsing history of the user, or a preference of the user.
 13. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein obtaining the type ofintended travel comprises selecting the type of intended travel from aplurality of types of intended travel.
 14. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 9, wherein obtaining the type of intended travelcomprises: selecting a plurality of types of intended travel; andcombining the plurality of types of intended travel to produce the typeof intended travel.
 15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14,wherein combining the plurality of types of intended travel is based atleast in part on a linear weighting algorithm.
 16. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein combining the pluralityof types of intended travel is based at least in part on determining aunion or intersection of the plurality of types of intended travel. 17.Non-transitory computer-readable storage media havingcomputer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computingsystem, cause the computing system to at least: determine, based atleast in part on an activity of a user, a query for search resultsidentifying attributes of one or more travel items available foracquisition without identifying suppliers of the one or more travelitems; identify a travel item based at least in part on the query and atype of intended travel attributable to the query; determine, based atleast in part on the type of intended travel, a set of disclosableattributes for the travel item, wherein the set of disclosableattributes excludes an identity of the supplier of the travel item; andcause a computing device associated with the user to display a searchresult based at least in part on the travel item, wherein the searchresult includes the set of disclosable attributes and excludes theidentity of the supplier of the travel item.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the set ofdisclosable attributes is determined based at least in part on aninventory of travel items.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 17, wherein the type of intended travel isobtained from a set of types of intended travel.
 20. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 17 wherein the media furtherincludes instructions that, when executed by the computing system, causethe computing system to at least identify, based at least in part on theactivity of the user, at least one set of previous travelers.
 21. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein thetype of intended travel is determined based at least in part on the atleast one set of previous travelers.